Thompson refutes Senate's vote against background checks

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Congressman Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena), chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, echoed the sentiments of President Obama and other gun violence control advocates when he expressed disappointment Thursday after a Senate vote fell six votes short of passing an amendment that would have expanded background checks on gun buyers.

"I'm disappointed with the Senate for going against the will of nearly 90 percent of the American people and voting down this anti-crime, pro-gun, pro-Second Amendment bipartisan compromise," Thompson stated in a news release.

"Voting 'no' on this amendment is a vote to allow criminals and the dangerously mentally ill easy access to guns and a vote against lawful gun-owners and the Second Amendment. You can't hold the position that criminals or the dangerously mentally ill shouldn't have firearms and be against background checks -- that's incongruent. Background checks are the first line of defense," Thompson added.

Thompson and other Democrats thought the background check amendment had the best chance of passing.

"The only thing more disappointing to the American people than the Senate voting this amendment down would be for the House to not vote on it at all. Pete King and I introduced bipartisan legislation to expand background checks in the House and the American people deserve a vote on it," Thompson concluded.

According to Thompson, the background check system last year identified and denied nearly 90,000 sales to criminals, domestic abusers, those with serious mental illnesses, and other prohibited purchasers. However, there is no way of knowing if those nearly 90,000 prohibited purchasers bought a gun at a gun show or over the Internet after being denied at a federally licensed dealer.